Essential Eligibility Criteria: Physical and Mental Health

Rational

  • Physical and mental health criteria are in place to make sure that our staff can effectively support all campers safely.

  • Final acceptance of camper attendance is based on an interview with the Camp Director and a review of essential eligibility criteria.

Mental Health

  • Camp counselors are trained to hold supportive conversations, help with conflict resolution, and provide safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth.

  • Camp counselors are not trained therapists, and Camp Lightbulb should never be used as a replacement or tool for a camper’s mental health care.

  • Campers with mental health and/or specific sensory needs (auditory, physical, taste, etc.) must be able to manage their own needs independently.

    • Independently managing mental health means campers can participate in all activities at camp with the assistance of reasonable accommodations that the camper provides and manages.

    • This includes bringing appropriate tools for support (noise-canceling headphones, fidget tools, specific foods, etc.) and knowing how and when to use them.

    • Accommodations provided by Camp Lightbulb include: ensuring access to bottom bunks, preferred seating (at events and during travel), and storage for specific dietary foods.

  • A camper who has been hospitalized for mental health purposes within the past year should seriously consider if they are mentally and emotionally ready for camp.

    • We highly suggest and ask that campers who have been hospitalized for mental health purposes within the past 6 months wait until next summer to attend camp.

Physical Health

  • Campers must be able to do the following independently:

    • Walk at a consistent pace in town for at least one hour at a time

    • Walk/hike up to two miles in hilly/uneven terrain at a consistent pace

    • Walk up and down stairs

    • Eat

    • Bathe

    • Dress/Undress

Grounds for Dismissal

  • Campers who show a need for mental health support beyond the capability and training of the camp counselors will either:

    • Be sent home as soon as parents/families can retrieve their child.

    • Be sent to the nearest hospital/mental health clinic where parents can meet/pick up their camper.

  • Campers who experience physical injury beyond basic first aid will be sent to the nearest urgent care or hospital, depending on the severity of the injury

Information on ADA and Camp Operations (from The American Camp Association)

  • Under Title III, qualifying organizations must consider reasonable modifications to their “policies, practices and procedures'' to provide access to those with disabilities, including by providing “auxiliary aids and services.” This can include, for example, the provision of interpreters or adaptive equipment for someone who is hearing impaired or the allowance of other power-driven mobility devices. However, organizations are not required to provide personal devices or attendants (to address the individual’s personal needs). Importantly, an organization is entitled to limit modifications in light of legitimate safety requirements (ideally addressed in the organization’s essential eligibility criteria (EEC) — see below) or in light of any other (legally) legitimate issues (also see below).

  • Organizations may ask program applicants questions about their ability to participate in the program. Questions about an applicant’s health or medical conditions (medical screening) allow the organization to understand and prepare for health issues or limitations and alert the camp to possible risk management issues for all campers. In addition, this screening is consistent with the organization’s effort to align with its own non-discriminatory safety/risk management-focused EEC (if those exist) and with its need to determine whether or not it can implement modifications to allow access.

  • As mentioned above, an organization is permitted (not required) by Article III to develop essential eligibility criteria (EEC) for its activities. These are, generally, the cognitive (“thinking,” “processing”) and physical criteria the camp determines necessary for participation in a given activity and are based largely on risk management considerations. EEC allows an applicant to identify suitability issues in the earliest stages of considering a program. EEC should be simple and straightforward and apply equally to all applicants, regardless of disability. EEC may range from the general “ability to understand and follow instructions” to the more specific “can detect signals of warning when in rockfall environments.” An organization’s EEC may be posted on its website or in other readily accessible materials.

  • EEC and medical screening inquiries will assist interested persons in deciding if participation is wise or even possible, and if so, with what modifications. It also encourages dialogue and information exchange between applicants and the organization early in the process. Developing these criteria and collecting health information is important not only in planning for those with disabilities. These strategies provide valuable information for all applicants.

  • Organizations are not allowed to impose EEC or other eligibility criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability unless such criteria are necessary to provide those services. An organization may impose legitimate safety requirements that are “necessary for safe operation,” which can logically be incorporated into any EEC. However, any safety criteria must be based upon “actual risks” and not on speculation, stereotypes, or assumptions about people with disabilities. Ultimately, an organization must allow people with disabilities access to programs in the most integrated setting “appropriate to the needs of the individual” (Title III law and regulations provide that separate programs may be appropriate in limited circumstances). Access (including proposed modifications) is not required. However, if it would, in appropriate circumstances:

    • 1) result in an undue financial or operational burden on the entity;

    • 2) fundamentally alter the nature of the program or activity (for the individual and others); or

    • 3) pose a “direct threat” to the safety of others attending the program.

      • Regulations and case law reflect that these three limiting criteria involve a particularized inquiry to avoid assumptions or generalizations.

  • In summary, qualifying organizations, including camps, are required to allow people with disabilities integrated (that is, not separate, except in special circumstances) access to their programs — and make reasonable modifications to facilitate that access, as appropriate. An organization may be relieved of an obligation to accommodate a disability if that accommodation is “unreasonable” — in terms of cost, safety considerations, or an alteration of the fundamental nature of a program.